Large and affluent town on the Lower Mahakam River
We didn’t get off at Tenggarong, just touched the shore at the kepal biasa landing place. Lots of people joined the boat, and many hawkers offered food and drink. Tenggarong is a rich town, lots of big houses and shining new mosque domes, as well as a huge, and horrible statue of winged golden elephant – presumably in memory of the original Hindoe Kingdom Mulawarman, of which next to nothing is left after a Muslim invasion established the Kutai Sulatanate.
The most striking characteristic of this town, pretty large, is that although there is a bridge across the river, it seems that all transport, cars, motorbikes and people, goes by ferry, hundreds of which plough from one bank to the other.
Back to the Mahakam River, or start the Virtual River Tour.